Turner stabbed forward with the sword, low—a much harder move to block with his axe—but he managed to swipe it to the side. If this were a real fight, and not just a spar, he would’ve thrown his axe right into the man’s skull and been done with it, but obviously that was not the goal here, so instead he swung his dagger at Turner’s throat, but the man was quick as a cat and pulled backwards, as Ty suspected he would.
Then Turner swung up with his sword, hitting the hilt of Ty’s dagger and knocking it from his hand, so only his axe remained.
A feral laugh bubbled up in Ty’s throat, and he saw an answering smile on Turner’s face. This was way too much fucking fun.
Then a delicate sound from outside the ring caught his attention, and he couldn’t help but look.
Ena was smiling widely at him, a gentle laugh having escaped her as she watched them. He could see the enjoyment written on her face, and as he breathed in deeply, hisvenatorcaught a whiff of—oh, fuck.
Was she turned on watching this? Her scent was different—deeper and muskier than normal, and as he breathed in again involuntarily, he could swear he caught the wet scent of her pussy in the air.
Capitalizing on Ty’s distraction, Turner swept forward, knocking Ty’s remaining weapon out of his hand, and the axe clanged to the floor.
“Fuck,” Ty lamented. “You got me.”
“I wouldn’t have if she wasn’t here,” Turner said, breathing just heavily as he was. “You should come every time. You’re quite the helpful distraction,” he said to Ena with a grin.
“I was just standing here minding my own business,” Ena said, feigning innocence.
Ty walked up to her, wiping the sweat from his brow before leaning over her. “You forget I can smell you, viper, and yes, it’s very distracting.”
Ena’s face went slightly pink at that. “Smell, like…?”
“Like I can tell you enjoyed watching us. Am I right?”
Ena looked away, her face going even redder. “Fine,” she said, meeting his gaze once more. “I won’t deny it. It was sexy as hell. You’re really…” Her gaze dragged over Ty’s bare torso before coming back up to his eyes. “Fast.”
Ty smiled at her genuinely. She was too fucking cute, and part of him wanted to drag her back to his rooms and fuck the shit out of her, but maybe they could go for the next best thing.
“Come over here, then. It’s your turn to try.”
“My turn?” she asked, sounding shocked. “But I don’t know how to fight.”
“That’s the point. You should learn. You never know when it might come in handy.”
“I’ve never had cause to fight before,” she said. “Witches don’t usually need to.”
“Well, you’re in the Underworld now…” Ty replied. “And daemons fight.”
“I thought you said I was protected because I was your witch-slave. That no one could touch me.”
“That’s technically true, yes. No one is allowed to touch you without my permission, but daemons don’t always follow the rules,” he finished menacingly.
Ena rolled her eyes at him, in that way she did when he challenged her and she wanted to act annoyed, but he knew deepdown she loved it. She was outspoken enough to tell him if she didn’t, and he could always sense when she just needed that little extra push to do what she really wanted. That little bit of permission to say “yes.”
“Okay, fine. Got a recommendation?” she asked, gesturing towards the wall of weapons.
“For you? Daggers, for sure. They’re lightweight, but deadly when someone gets too close. Perfect for a viper,” he said, smiling mischievously at her.
“Why do you call me that anyway?” she asked as he handed her two choice daggers, a bit smaller than the one he’d been using, but still excellent.
“Viper?” he asked.
“Yeah, you never did before. You only started on Samhain when you…took me.”
She clearly wasn’t mincing words, but okay, fair enough, he didtakeher.
And he was so fucking glad he did.
